To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, on Thursday, 26th January 2017 at 7.30 – 9.30pm, Finchley Progressive Synagogue, is hosting an eventBearing Witness and Standing Upto address the penetrating questionHow Can Life Go On...?

Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk warmly welcomes four speakers who will bring perspectives on the Holocaust and on genocide.

A representative of Yazidi UK will talk of the recent brutal genocide and torture and oppression of the Yazidis.

Ruth Barnett, a survivor, holocaust educator and campaigner, will be reminding us about the Romani Holocaust and telling us of its continuing ramifications for the Roma people.

Allison Zionts, a trustee of Keshet UK, a teacher and lecturer and passionate advocate for LGBT rights and inclusion will focus not only on the LGBT community during the Holocaust, but link to current LGBT oppression happening in world.

Steve Chapman, a teacher and amateur actor, will read from speeches of the Conservative MP Victor Cazalet and one other MP given on 19th May 1943 during a debate on the Refugee Problem to give us a flavour of the British perspective during WWII.

Professor David Hartman in A Heart of Many Rooms wrote of the Jewish position “It is both politically and morally dangerous … to perceive … (ourselves) essentially as the suffering remnant of the Holocaust. It is pointless and often vulgar to argue that the Jewish peoples’ suffering is unique in history.” FPS, as a Jewish community is mindful how the Holocaust devastated other communities and groups too, and sadly all too aware that similar events have occurred and continue to recur across the globe. We invite you to come together with us in reflection and commemoration.

How Can Life Go On...? : FPS warmly welcomes our guests who will contemplate this profound question.

We are honoured to welcome a representative of Yazidi UK to talk about the very recent brutal genocide and the horrific attempt to torture and suppress their people.

Ruth Barnett, herself a refugee from Nazi Germany, will talk about the Romani Holocaust whose minimal recognition effected profoundly how the Roma people are treated today. Typically, Roma and Traveller Gypsies are not counted in as part of the British community; negative stereotypes abound, whilst too few people have knowledge of their rich history and culture.

Ruth Barnett. As a refugee from Nazi Germany, Ruth works with the Holocaust Educational Trust and regularly visits schools to talk about her experience. Her books are: Person of no Nationality; Jews and Gypsies: Myths and Realities; and Love, Hate and Indifference: the slide into Genocide. http://www.het.org.uk/survivors-ruth-barnett Ruth Barnett is a survivor and a Holocaust educator and campaigner.

Steve Chapman, a teacher and amateur actor will read from speeches of the Conservative MP Victor Cazalet and one other MP given on 19th May 1943 during a debate on the Refugee Problem. This debate had been requested by many MPs who were keen that Britain did something to help Jews stranded in Nazi occupied Europe.

Allison Zionts will be discussing the experiences of the LGBT community during the Holocaust, as well as relating it to the current climate for LGBT communities.

Allison Zionts is a Trustee of Keshet UK, a charity that seeks to support inclusion for LGBT+ people within the Jewish community. She is also a teacher and lecturer in Greenwich, and is a passionate advocate for LGBT rights and inclusion. She volunteered for her local Holocaust museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and wrote a Holocaust education curriculum for secondary school students that she taught in various schools across the city.